News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-06-16
TIE MYSTERIES OF A DAY.
NOTABLE EVENTS WE FIND RE-
CORDED IN THE PAPERS.
The Ax-HandIe-On Mt. Whitney
A Forest of Teak-A Freak of
lightning, Etc, Etc.

cOSG IOI luIuSCflal purposes. VI all III
woods grown in the East this has bee
pronounced as, in some respects, tn
most valuable. This superiority con
sists in its being neither too heavy no
too hard; it does not warp nor spill
nnder exposure, no matter how prolonged
to heat or dampness; it contains an es
sential oil which possesses the rare prop
erty of preventing the wood from rot
tins under wet conditions. and, at tht
same time, act as q preservative of iron
and repels insects; it is, in addition, {
handsome wood, of several varieties O
color and grain, and takes good polish
URIAH RINKER, farmer near Tan
nersyille, Pa, was cleaning his saddle
horse on Friday when the barn was
struck by lightning and the horse in
stantly killed. Rinker was knocked
senseleSs to the floor, and when he be
came conscious was surrounded By
flames and all means of escape nearly
cut off. BY desperate effort he man
aged to catch hold of the door sill an6
drag himself from the burning building
Just as he crossed the sill his wife
rushed to his assistance, and dragged
him to a place of safety. His clothing
was then ablaze, and the heat from the
fire was so intense that Mrs. Kinker's
arms and hands were blistered. The
watch in his pocket was destroyed by
the lightning, and three long gashes
were made in a new boot on his foot.
SHERIFF ROBERTS, of HartC County, Ga,
was awakened from a sound sleep the
other night by the clammy touch of a
huge snake which crawled directly over
his face. The reptiles belly felt like Il
big icicle, according to the Sheriff's ac-
count Of the incident, and seemed to
take at least an hour in passing. Finally,
to his great relief, the reptile drew its
struk a light and tried to find it. But
the snake had disappeared, and after a
few minutes search Mr.. Roberts went
back to bed. In the morning the ser
want, while making up the bed, found
chicken snake, six feet long, coiled up
between the feather bed and the mat
tress.
In MEXICO hotels the "'chambermaid,'
who is usually man, does the work
about this way He takes possession of
the key, unlocks the door and disap-
pears. After a while he comes back,
turns down the bedclothes and goes off.
The next time he comes in he partially
completes the bed-making, but leaves in
a great hurry, as if he had suddenly re-
membered something. After the sixth
visit the Mexican retires with his dust
brush, and it is pretty safe to wager he
will only come back once more, and that
to bring a clean towel. After he has
done this for an hour or two, he is so
worn out that he spends the rest of the
day in talking a siesta.
Mr.. JOHN RIPPLE, who died in Ogle,
Pa, recently, at the age of 81 years,
was noted citizen of the place, where
he was best known as "Old Johnny
Ripple" Large stories are told of his
strength and agility. 1t is said that
when he was in his prime he could kick
tinware from a store ceiling eleven feet
above the floor. Once, when rafting on
the Monongahela river, the raft WAS
wrecked, and he escaped by jumping
over twenty-five feet to a rock, from
which he was rescued. He would place
four and five hogsheads in q row, Jump
out of the first into the second. and so
on to the last, then jump backward to
the first, with apparent ease.
A TRAVELLING sleight-of hand man Wis
tied an Indian encampment near Lew
iston, Idaho, the other day. Seeing a
small dog heasked hoWmuch they would
take for him. The Indians said they
didn't want to SELL ''Him very good
dog. said the magician, rubbing him
down the back, at each stroke taking a |
handful of money from the end of his |
tail, also from his mouth, ears and nose. !
The Indians looked on in stOlid silence, |
but after the magician went away, they |
took the dog down to the river and /
dissected him. To their great chagrin,
they found that the straightforward man |
had MIXED him of all the money.
An Indiana farmer, who told his boys
to burn every humble bees nest they !
found on the farm, and who was COM
planning at the failure of his clover seed !
crop, was surprised when Maurice
the naturalist, said: ''That
is why your clover seed fails you. Bum
bic bees make your clover seed" 1t is |
q fact that strong nest of humble bees
in big clover field is worth $40 to the
owner; for these insects are the chief
agents in fertilizing the blossoms, there
by insuring a heavy crop of seed. In
Australia there are no humble bees of
our kind, and they could not raise clover |
seed until they imported some.
WILLIAM HARDING, of New Haven, !
who died last week on the day set for
his marriage, had previously said that
he should die on that day, but as the |
hour for the ceremony approached he
seemed much better and his friends !
hoped for q favorable turn of the dis
ease. He was prOpped up in bed and !
made the requisite responses with
voice so firm that those who were pres
ent felt all the more encouraged. As
soon as it was over, however, all strength |
seemed to leave him, he sank back on
his pillow, became unconscious, and |
within two hours was dead.
An old cavalryman says that horse |
viii never step on a man Intentionally. |
It is a standing order with cavalry that |
should a man become dismounted he /
must lie down and be perfectly still If /
he does so the entire company will pass
over him and he will not be injured A
horse notices where he is going and is
on the lookout for a firm foundation to
put his foot on. 1t is an instinct with
him, therefore, to step over PROSTATE
man. The injuries caused by runaway
horse, are nearly always inflicted by the
animal knocking people down and not
by his stepping on them.
An ALBASY barber says that there's
not half the danger in being shaved
from the public cups in barber shop
rs in being brushed with the public hair
brush. He says ''Half Of the badness
in the world IS caused by the indiscrimi-
nate use of brushes in barber shcTs.
Badness is usually preceded by seal
ing of the head. This is sort of disease
When a barber brushes a maus hair
whose scalp is diseased and uses the
same brush on healthy scalp, what can
you expect That IS Why 50 few women
ere bald. They never go to barber
shops"
Obadiah Whealock, Of Philadelphia.
BANGED himself, leaving n fortune of
-35. OOO. Testimony recently taken be
lore the Regis c. Of Wills shows the cur
ous whims of the old man. A carpen-
put mp swing and cut hole in the
ceiling so that when he swung his head
would go mp through the hole. He had
loles cut in he wall into which he could
stick his feet, and also tlRp-doors in the
floor. He got the witness to bay him
3, 500 feet Of maIi!a rope, which he had
nut into different lengths, 20 use for a
swing.
"WHAT DO ynr call ful c1r?' was
asked the conductor of street car in
Philadelphia. Forty two" he ans
,.o,a5 ,,roODfTv t"VWpIya on each side